300,000 flood victims need aid

More than 300,000 Kenyans have been affected by floods and landslides that have rocked the country since the onset of the short rains.

The victims are in need of urgent aid, the Kenya Red Cross Society said on Thursday, adding that it needs Sh585 million for emergency assistance.

In Budalang’i, one of the areas most affected, Agriculture minister William Ruto called for speedy construction of dykes as one more person drowned.

The floods have resulted in loss of lives and devastating impact on the infrastructure, livestock, water and sanitation facilities according to secretary general Abbas Gullet. “Our main objectives are to buy non-food items, improve health care, water and sanitation and logistics for three months.”

Among the areas that have been affected by the landslides are North Pokot where 11 people are believed to have died and Kahuro in Murang’a District.

“Floods have hit Budalang’i, Tana River, Katilu in Turkana, Busia and Trans Nzoia. This has been caused by the bursting of river banks and continued rainfall in the highlands,” he said.

Mandera has a complex humanitarian need as residents were affected by flash floods only to be hit by inter clan fighting that has killed 24 people.

In North Eastern, 178,968 people have been displaced by the floods in Bulla, Elwak, Lafey, Rhamu Dimtu and Wajir Town rendering most of the roads impassable.

Water table

“We have been forced to transport our water treating facility from Garissa to be used in Wajir as all the wells, latrines and bucket toilets are overflowing and a major health calamity is looming. The water table is very low hence most of the latrines fill up easily,” he added.

“UN agencies FAO and WHO warn that Rift Valley fever may strike again at the end of this year. Past experience shows a cyclic trend in floods or droughts to disease outbreaks,’’ he said.

Floods are expected to raise the risk of diarrhoea and vector borne diseases. In Budalang’i, a 60-year-old woman drowned in raging floods. More people were left homeless in Siaya and Migori districts.

Mr Ruto, who was speaking at Mukhobola health centre where he visited 5,000 flood victims, said it was time a lasting solution to the flooding problem was found. He was accompanied by area MP Ababu Namwamba.

“The World Bank has given us more than Sh6.5 billion to fight floods and we want to see that money doing something and not just hosting seminars and workshops,” the minister said.

Mr Ruto regretted that it was now one year since the  programme started and yet there was no tangible work on the ground.

Mr Namwamba accused the Government of taking Budalang’i people for a ride, claiming that even though there were funds to address flood menace in the area, the locals were still staying in camps.

Mr Bartholomew Wanyama, the national co-odinator of Western Kenya flood mitigation programme, listened keenly as his organisation was attacked for spending more time in workshops instead of doing actual work on the ground.

Special Programmes PS Ali Mohammed Daud said when he visited the displaced at Mukhobola health centre early this week that new dykes will be built at a cost of Sh400 million in two years time.
Reports by Casper Waithaka, Ouma Wanzala and Elisha Otieno